A Shower of Love
by Ms. Audrey G
Summary: AU. Sudou and Kotoko were once in love with the two people they can never have. Now, as roommates, and perhaps viewed as siblings, they come across the two people they swore to never fall in love again, only to fall deeper, and this time unable to let go. And to make matters worse, both their love ones are married to each other.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **Itazura na Kiss is not mine, which is cool.

**Notes**: Yes, I deleted it. The reason is below.

* * *

**Prologue**

Sometimes you have to let a person go to move on.

With those words in mind, Sudou was doing just that. Even as the cool breeze kissed his cheeks, and the cherry blossoms fluttered to his feet in a soft sway, he moved on, past the administration building and toward his car. He was escaping from his own feelings. And although he wanted so much to turn around and embrace her, he knew he couldn't.

This was for him—and for _her_.

It would do them both good; although, the separation would help him better than her. But, of course, he would be deluding himself to believe that she cared for him. She never cared for him. And if she did, it was hard to tell. Her emotions were guarded by a strong shield he could never break.

"Sudou!"

He heard his friend—should he describe Kotoko that way? After all, she was the only one who listened and offered companionship—and turned his head. He stopped in his step, turned halfway, and watched as she jogged to meet him.

Back bent, hands on her knees, she gathered her breath. She must've sprinted from the tennis courts to the parking lot with all her jovial energy to catch up to him. She was a true friend—no, a dear friend, who cared for his happiness.

Sudou needed someone like that in his life; someone he could depend on and talk to and receive honest answers in return. The type of friend he should be for her.

"Sudou, you can't just give up!" Determine was a word to describe her. "We didn't go to that dating group only to waste it! We went there for a purpose! We can still win their love!"

Denial was another word—the most often used in his mind—to describe her character. She wasn't ready to let go; neither was he. But he couldn't delude himself to believe that Matsumoto would come running to him with open arms, accepting his love. It was a harsh reality he needed to wake up to, something that the dating group taught him.

And just as Kotoko had given him support throughout their blooming friendship, he would return the favor by being direct.

"This is a waste of time. I let her go. You should do the same."

She shook her head. Refusal gripped her soul and tugged her into the dark where the truth was obscured into lies. He had to dig deeper for her to accept reality.

"Let him go!" he harshly voiced.

Tears began to cloud her vision. Again, she refused, sputtering out, "I can't."

"You can. You can," he repeated. He placed his hands on her shoulders, almost as if he was shaking her from her fantasy. "I'll be there for you. I won't leave you to suffer alone. I won't."

She began to cry silently.

"I can't. I just can't."

Tears spilled and ran down her cheeks in fat drops. She cried with a high ferocity; wailing loudly as students walked by, raising eyebrows toward their direction. He glared at them, and they, almost a few, flinched and walked on, never questioning the scene, but killing their mild curiosity.

But he had to admit that the parking lot was not the best place to cry. Kotoko, however, was no longer able to contain her sorrow. She needed a release, and the perfect opportunity was given to her. Sudou did not mind. In fact, her tears reflected his broken heart.

He took her in his arms and rested his chin on top of her head. With a hand pressed against the back of her head, he soothed her into a quivering silence. No words were needed. Chatter filled the area; laughter followed after. Cars roared with life and drove past their embrace.

For a second the world was forgotten.

Sudou glanced up, disbelief covering his expression. He shook away his confusion and impassively stared at the man ahead of him. Returning his gaze, Irie stood, with the same cool indifference he always carried.

Then he took a few steps back and turned in time as Kotoko pulled away from him. She followed his gaze and saw nothing, or in this particular case, she did not see Irie. She sighed, almost as if she was wishing that Irie was there, and turned her puffy, red-eyes toward his direction.

"Let's go," she suggested. It was her way of saying that she was ready to move on.

He wanted to tell her about Irie; he practically wanted to shout that Irie _was_ behind her. But what difference would it make? Knowing Irie, he would still treat her with same mistreatment, and Sudou did not want her to chase after a man whose feelings were questionable.

So he kept it to himself and led her away from the campus ground and into his car, where they drove off into the mysterious future.

...

...

...

* * *

**Notes**: Yes, I deleted _A Shower of Love_ to load it again with a different plot. Originally, the first would've followed the pattern, except the setting would've been around after their high school graduation, but I decided to create a future where Sudou and Kotoko are older and living together as roommates.

The other one would've included the whole school process, and their best of winning their crushes' hearts, and to tell you the truth I wasn't interested. But now that I've written the plot, I feel like it's easier for me to handle with the storytelling now. I can write longer chapters 'cause I'm interested. Of course, there will be flashbacks, but the whole story will be in the present—which is seven-years in the future.

Not exactly sure how many chapters this would be. I did the plot; now I have to do the outline for each chapter. But I'm going to take a guess about thirty chapters.


	2. Chapter 2

******Notes**: I am basing everything that I know from apartments to money to kindergarten teachers from where I live. As much as I would love to learn about Japan, I rather not use their language as in -chan or -kun, in respect to them since I know little to nothing to their culture.

* * *

**Chapter One**

Sudou kicked the door, carrying bags of merchandise, and sighed in relief when he dumped them on the living room floor. Behind him, the door closed as his roommate moved into the living room, and laid the rest of the bags next to his.

"Thanks, Sudou."

Her cherry tone lifted his tired mood somewhat. He slumped in the couch and propped a leg on the coffee table. On the floor, with one leg tucked to her inner thigh, the other sprawled out, Kotoko pulled out the crayons, and then the play-doh, before she scattered to find the paper among the many bags on the floor.

"Why are you doing this again, Kotoko?"

His roommate looked up and gave him a grin. She always smiled; he enjoyed that from her. Her cheerful demeanor brought a smile to his face.

"I want to give the kids a gift."

She rolled a white paper in a telescope of some sort and looked at him through the hole. Her silliness brought his smile to widen into a grin. She lowered the rolled-up paper from her eye and released it from her hand.

"I just want to make a strong first impression. You know, be the best kindergarten teacher there is," she confessed.

"You worry too much. They're five-year-old kids. They love anything that's nice."

She looked from her pile of play-doh to the many Popsicle sticks and to the boxes of crayons next to it. They were all gifts for the children; a present for their first step of education. Or second step depending if the child went to preschool.

"I'm just nervous," she admitted.

He understood her. This was the start of her first job as a teacher.

"You'll be fine." It was the only words he could say to her. He tried to ease her nerves the best he could. But it seemed that he had forgotten how in the past seven years. Kotoko never lost her sensitive side, however. Although she was stronger in character, she was still the same energetic, loving person.

He truly loved that about her. His best friend, roommate, and little sister he loved to call became someone important to him. He watched as she stood on her feet and walked toward the kitchen to prepare lunch for the both of them. The bags lay forgotten on the ground. She will sort them out and decorate each gift basket at a later time.

He felt as if she was going overboard with the gifts. But whatever made her happy. He will not question her, just as she would never question him about his tendency to walk at night.

Sometimes he liked to get away from everything, even from Kotoko. Not that she was a problem. She never was the problem. There were times, however, when he felt his world gray and bleak. Being a car sales rep had its perks, it left him satisfied at least. He accomplished something in life (not the type of accomplishment he had in mind however).

But there was also the fact that he never cared about his goals in general. His parents never cared. His ex-girlfriends demanded too much for him. Not a single person in his life was happy with his accomplishments.

It was hard to live up to the expectations your parents had of you, and how your ex-lovers expected more from you. Sometimes he wanted to escape from it all.

Tennis served as his escapement back then. It helped him in so many ways. For a long time, he wanted to become a pro-tennis player. Instead, like all the other dreams he had told to his parents, they took it as a joke.

He never knew why he looked for his parents in the first place, if they never looked for him. Perhaps, he simply wanted recognition. But he would never receive it for them. Not even at their death.

Then, out of his gray world, love struck him hard. He wasn't the type of person to believe in love at first sight. It was a lie, a big fat lie. Love did not happen in five seconds. But he was wrong, for in five seconds he had fallen in love.

He had wanted to prove himself to the woman he loved; he had wanted many things, but out of everything, he had wanted her. Nothing became easy for him in the end; he learned that the hard way. She did not like him, which was obvious. She had preferred someone with a goal; a person who was just like her.

That's when he had decided he needed to do something.

Having a nervous tendency around women, he had decided to join a dating group. He had never thought he would meet Kotoko there. He had seen her before, once at the tennis courts. He never really paid much attention to her though.

"Sudou, do you mind getting juice? I knew we forgot something."

The past became a memory. Forced in the dark recess of his brain, it was never allowed to reemerge without his consent. Or so he would like to believe that he had control of his memories from popping in his head. That never was the case, however. Needing the distraction, he grabbed the keys in the glass bowl and headed for the door.

"Orange juice?" he asked.

"Yeah." She stirred the pasta with a wooden spoon. "And get some apple juice."

Opening the door, he shouted out behind him, "Be back in a few."

He heard her say in return, "Thanks!"

With the door shut behind him, Sudou walked toward the sidewalk. The path was cleared of dead leaves and rested against the bright, green grass. The gardener trimmed the bushes with sharp shears, each small, broken branch falling to his feet. He heard the air conditioners rattle and consume the area with a harsh swishing sound.

Each apartment building held a small inclusion of privacy. Instead of seeing the small outdoor porch, he saw a thick, brown fence. Behind one of them, he heard the dryer machine buzz, announcing the cycle was done.

The path curved and led straight to the parking lot. He decided to walk toward the store instead of using the car. It was only across the street. Heading toward the gate, he left the apartment ground, and instinctively touched his pocket. The keys were felt under his palm. He wanted to double-check.

The last time he left the apartment building he had left the keys behind and had to wait nearly thirty minutes before Kotoko arrived. The apartment complex of where they live required a punch code (if one was driving to enter) or a key (if one was entering by walking) to enter the premises. He did not want to make the same mistake again.

The weather was heavy. Perspire touched his forehead. It was the middle of June, not a single cloud was seen in the blue sky. He stood under the glaring sun, waiting for the signal to cross. The signal turned white, a shape figure of a man glowed, and he hastily moved his feet across the street, before the figure blinked.

The store was a small-looking building, where above in red lettering the store name hanged. He approached the entrance as the doors automatically slid open. Inside, he felt the air conditioner cool his sweaty skin.

He walked along the aisles, knowing where the juice laid. All refrigerated meals and/or drinks rested at the corner of the store. He pulled out a gallon of orange juice, and went in search for the apple juice. He found it nearby and grabbed the first one he saw.

There were hardly a few people in the store. It made purchasing faster. But he was not ready to face the heat. He enjoyed what little he had inside the cool building.

Then, as he placed his things at lane number 1, he heard a name. He turned his head a little and noticed a woman, her back exposed to him, her face hidden from his view, in a red dress, grabbing a bag of bread. She turned her head and opened her mouth, but he was instantly distracted by the cashier, telling him the amount he needed to pay.

He reached for his wallet and pulled out the money.

The woman in the red dress had disappeared when he looked back. He quickly placed the wallet back in his pocket and continued on his way, giving a small thanks to the cashier. Into the heat, he crossed the street and made his way home safely. Upon reaching his apartment, he stopped when a friend of his walked toward him, waving a hand.

"Sudou, my man, what's up?"

"Rye, what's going on?"

His friend stood in front of him, placing his hands in his jean pockets. Wearing flip-flops, and a regular, white t-shirt, he smiled, exposing the laugh lines near his eyes. He was a slightly, heavy man with a roll around his waistline.

"Nothing much. Some new neighbors moved in across from you. Married couple I hear," he said. Rye was nosy with other people's business. He probably picked up the habit from his wife. She was quite known for being too curious. Noticing the bags in his arm, Rye asked, "Kotoko sent you on an errand?"

"Yeah, she forgot something."

"When doesn't she forget something?"

He laughed at his joke.

Sudou forced a smile, bothered by his light joke. Not that the joke was disrespectful. He simply did not like any jokes toward Kotoko. He was just a cautious man around her.

Rye cleared his throat, noticing his uneasiness.

"I'm just playing with you. Well, I'll see you around, Sudou. Tell Kotoko hi for me."

He walked past him, heading toward the parking lot.

Sudou moved forward and noticed across from his apartment that his new neighbors had left the door opened to their apartment. They were probably rushing to bring their things inside when the sun was merciless on their backs. Sudou quickly entered his apartment and sighed when the fresh air hit his face.

"You made it on time."

He placed the bags on the counter and made his way into the kitchen. Kotoko was already placing the plates on the table. The pasta smelled delicious. He couldn't wait to eat.

"Did you hear about the new neighbors?" she asked.

She pulled out two cups and poured soda in each one. The gas fizzled and settled into small popping sounds. Putting the cups on the table, she sat down. He sat in front of her after he saved the orange juice in the fridge.

"Yeah." He grabbed his fork and stabbed into his food.

"I should bake a cake for them. You know, to be nice."

He chewed his pasta, and raised a hand to his mouth, to say, "Go ahead."

"But what if they don't like it?"

Stabbing at his food, he said to her, "They'll like it."

Encouraged, she finished her pasta in silence, and then she pushed back her seat and dumped the dirty dish in the sink. In a couple of hours, she finished her cake, and covered it with chocolate frosting. Looking in the cupboards, she dashed the cake with sprinkles and placed a couple of M&M's.

She looked around for a pan to carry the cake, and instead took the pan that the cake was in and headed out the door. He was right behind her, not too thrilled about meeting his new neighbors. But whatever made Kotoko happy, he will not argue.

"Press the doorbell for me."

He reached over her shoulder and pressed it.

Kotoko waited patiently as a woman answered from behind, "Just a minute."

When the door opened, Kotoko grinned and watched as a man answered. He stared at her in confusion, and then slowly a smile reached his face.

"Kotoko!"

She blinked her eyes several times, unable to say a word. Sudou looked at her, pondering on her silence. Did she know the man in front of her? It seemed like it. For the next moment, she gave a half-smile, and said his name.

"Kinnosuke…"

Then, behind the man, Sudou noticed a woman. She looked at him and gave him a smile. In her arms, she carried a toddler. He returned his attention back to Kotoko and noticed her eyes filled with tears.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry that I ignored you," she said.

A tear rolled down her cheek, and Sudou grew tense.

He did not like this.

Not one bit.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Kotoko sat on the dark couch, embarrassed of the breakdown she had prior from entering Kinnosuke's home. Her eyes dashed toward his wife. Blue eyes, short, blond hair, she was a petite woman, with a turn-up shape nose and soft cheekbones. She was very pretty.

Kotoko returned her gaze toward Kinnosuke. He silently handed her a cup of water.

"I'm sorry about earlier."

He ignored the nervousness in her tone. "It's okay."

She placed the water on the glass table. "No, it's not okay. I told myself if I ever saw you again I would apologize and not cry for the mistake I made." She looked at her folded hands on her lap. "But I failed in that as well."

Kinnosuke looked away and took a sip of his drink. He was at loss of words she imagined. After all, she blamed herself for his depression seven-years-ago.

"But I'm a little too late in apologizing, am I?"

He chapped his lips softly and settled his cup on the table along with hers.

"It's never too late to apologize," he said. She felt the tears in her eyes when he easily gave her a smile. "I forgave you a long time ago, though."

She looked away from him and pressed her fingers against her temple. Again, she was trying so hard not to cry. Sudou glanced at her direction, his eyes narrowing a bit. She picked up her cup and sipped on the water, not wanting for him to see her sad expression.

She needed a distraction.

Kinnosuke provided such distraction by saying, "So, whose the guy?"

She looked at him. "Oh, he's a friend. Well, best friend and roommate." She gripped the cup in her hands. "Your wife is very pretty," she commented.

"Thanks."

He leaned back in his spot, trying to get comfortable.

"What's her name again?" She felt silly for asking. But she did not want to refer her as that woman forever.

Kinnosuke did not seem to mind her forgetfulness. "Christine."

"Where did you guys meet?"

"At the university."

He pulled out a small toy from behind his back and rested it on the table. It was a small, wooden car, entirely colored in blue. It rolled forward a bit on its black wheels and sat next to the remote control.

"Oh, I never saw her before."

"You transferred when she arrived," he explained.

She had nothing to say to that. Or rather she preferred forgetting about what she had done in the past. Instead, she glanced at his wife and stared at the child on her lap.

"Your son is handsome."

"He takes after his mother."

No, she had to disagree. There was a bit of him she could see in his son's round face.

"He looks a little like you," she told him as she returned her attention to him.

He scoffed. "You're blind. I see my wife's face in Luka."

"Luka?"

"My son."

Again, she felt silly of not knowing that he was referring to his son. How she wanted to slap her face in humiliation and possibly hide behind a throw pillow.

"You know, I recently been hired by your dad."

Her humiliation faded away at the thought of her father. How long had she not visited him? Two months? Maybe three? Was she a bad daughter for not seeing her only father?

"It feels nice to work with the old man again."

She said, in a low voice, "He liked working with you too."

"If it wasn't for Christine, I wouldn't have come back," he said. "Heck, I wouldn't be married to her." He did not notice that he slowly started to rant. "I would've been alone if she had stopped loving me. But I'm glad she didn't or else she probably would've married Irie."

He held her utmost attention when he mentioned her old flame. "What do you mean that she would've married Irie?"

He glanced at his wife, who spoke with Sudou quite amiably. By the look in his eye, she could tell that he did not feel compelled to tell her of his wife's past. But he had no other choice when she sought for information.

"The Irie Toy Company was going down, so I had heard." He stumbled on his words. "To save the company, Irie had to marry Christine."

Kotoko creased her forehead, her eyebrows lifting and folding together. Did they even ask how Irie felt about being set up to marry a stranger?

"How did Irie feel?" she asked.

Kinnosuke shrugged. "I don't know. He didn't go through with it when I arrived though. In fact, he was the one who called it off; said he had a woman in his life. I'm just grateful the bastard didn't marry Christine."

Kotoko played with her fingers absentmindedly. _Another woman in his life_, she thought. Could it have been Matsumoto?

"Whatever did happen to Irie?" She had to ask to quench her curiosity.

"He quit school and took over the company his dad own."

Kinnosuke seemed knowledgeable about Irie. It surprised Kotoko that he even remembered what Irie had done with his life. But it also saddened her that he still held a grudge against the man she once loved. She did not need words to confirm his hate. His face revealed everything.

"I'm glad he is doing well," she said.

He then grew quiet and surprised her after a couple of seconds with two little words—if one does not count the conjunction as two. "He's married."

Shocked, she fumbled to say, "What?"

He quickly explained, "I saw him with his wife at your father's restaurant not too long ago. Mr. Aihara told me that they come regularly; even Irie's parents and brother come to visit at times. I guess it's some sort of family tradition. But he looks happy." Her shock expression did not fall. "I think he is. Heck, maybe because I haven't seen him in years, but he got colder, if that is even possible."

Snapped away from her shock, she asked curiously, "Colder?"

He nodded his head. "His wife is the same way too. She has a cold personality, just like him." Why did Matsumoto flash in her mind? "Maybe he's not happy and he's sad. I mean, the way they talk to each other, it's almost robotic. It's a bit weird."

"Hmm…" What could she possibly say to that?

He then asked, "You never talk to him?"

"No."

If she did, she wouldn't be asking him questions about Irie. Maybe he knew that but he simply wanted to confirm his suspicion. It was most likely that.

"Oh, I thought you did. You guys were pretty close." He regretted saying that. The way he shifted his eyes to a side he knew he had spoken out of line. But before he could apologize, she had to explain.

"We were never close." She picked up her cup of water. "Yep, we weren't even friends. We were just two people living together." She then took a long sip of her drink.

Kinnosuke glanced toward his wife and softly smiled. "Your friend was looking at us. He's quite protective over you, you know that?"

Indeed, Sudou was. She looked at her friend. He fidgeted in his seat as Christine chatted away, ignorant to his jittery legs.

Kotoko smiled behind her cup of water and gently said, "I know."

xx

Her first day of teaching began tomorrow. She was growing nervous at the thought. They were only children she had reasoned but she still felt intimidated.

She had to get out, to explore, or something. As long as she left the apartment and avoided her nerves. Picking up the keys from the bowl, she marched past Sudou, who sat on the dark, navy couch, one leg propped on the coffee table, as he flipped through a car magazine.

"Where are you going?" he asked. He did not look away from the page he was on.

"I'm heading out."

He knew what that meant. She wanted some time to herself. "Call me if you need me."

"I will."

She escaped from the apartment in hurried steps, opened the garage, and stepped in the car. Driving around in the city, she had no particular destination. But soon driving became tedious as she decided to park near the mall and ventured inside.

She took the escalator to the second floor and noticed a toy store ahead. Caught by the delicate-looking and expensive toy (as she took a glimpse at the tag), she entered the store and examined each one.

She picked up a train piece. It looked simple, and was entirely made of wood, but it held a high artistic value. She wondered who made such beautiful toys. She flipped it over and read the dark printing.

It read, IRIE TOY COMPANY

She placed the toy back on the shelf and slowly retreated from the aisle.

There was only thing on her mind. She had to get out of here.

She left the store in a rush and sat on a bench nearby.

What should she do? Should she return home? Or should she continue on with her window shopping? It was just his last name printed on the back of the toy. It's not as if she bumped into him or something. She was overreacting. Besides, she had come here to battle her nerves. If she returned home, she will only get worse.

She had to explore to forget what she had seen.

She left the bench and headed into a men's department store. She should get Sudou a new shirt. It always seemed that he was wearing the same shirt every day. Maybe he really was. Yep, she definitely needed to buy him new shirts. But she could've sworn she bought him new clothes not too recently.

Moving each shirt to a side, the hanger sliding over the bar, she ignored the man nearby and accidentally bumped her shoulder against him. She looked away from the black shirt she was seeing and gave a small bow of her head.

"I'm sorry."

She was about to return her attention to the rack when all too familiar eyes greeted her. She backed away from the man, no longer interested in buying Sudou shirts. Not when Irie Naoki stood, unchanged (perhaps he looked a little older in the face), dressed in a rather-looking expensive suit.

"Irie," a woman called him nearby.

And she did not want to confirm her suspicion that the woman who was his wife was none other than Matsumoto. No, she definitely did not want to know. But one look at her direction, and she knew, even if her face had aged beautifully, that it was Matsumoto.

And if she needed more proof that it was her rival, she said, "Aihara?"

Kotoko fled from the store. It probably looked foolish (even stupid) to them for leaving in such abrupt behavior but to Kotoko it was the right thing to do. Otherwise, she would've stared, mouth agape, and possibly faint. That was a lot worse than what she was doing now.

Inside her car, she began to calm herself. It was just a coincidence, anyway. She doubted she would see them again. In fact, there will never be a second time. She could not picture seeing them twice. With that in mind, she turned on the car and headed home, keeping her small coincidence to herself.

Sudou did not need to know about her small encounter. He will only try to smother her with his protectiveness. No, she really shouldn't tell him. It was a small encounter that will fade away in a memory.

It was not that big of a deal.

Or so she thought.


End file.
